Even before I met him at the RSPA Inspire Conference in 2015, I was a huge fan of Chip Heath, his brother Dan, and their excellent writing. When I heard earlier this year the Heath brothers published a new book – The Power of Moments – I was quick to order it. The lessons in this book should be valuable to ISVs who want to generate positive, memorable (dare I say “glorious”?) experiences for both their customers and their staff. The Power of Moments helped me better understand several important concepts that I plan to implement into my work going forward.

Here are 26 of my favorite passages and concepts from the book:

Defining moments shape our lives, but we don’t have to wait for them to happen. We can be the authors of them.

This is a book about the power of moments and the wisdom of shaping them.

When we assess our experiences, we don’t average our minute-by-minute sensations. Rather, we tend to remember flagship moments: the peaks, the pits, and the transitions.

A defining moment is a short experience that is both memorable and meaningful. Defining moments are created from one or more of the following four elements:

Insight: We realize something that might influence our lives for decades (e.g. quotes or articles that moved you, books that changed your view of the world)

Pride: Us at our best — moments of achievement, moments of courage (e.g. notes of recognition, certificates, thanks-yous, awards)

Connection: These moments are strengthened because we share them with others (e.g. wedding photos, family photos)

We must learn to think in moments, to spot the occasions that are worthy of investment, to recognize where the prose of life needs punctuation.

Every great service company is a master of service recovery. They transform a negative moment to a positive one.

“Mostly forgettable” is actually a desirable state in many businesses. It means nothing went wrong. You got what you expected. Think of “mostly forgettable” as only the first stage of a successful customer experience.

There’s nine times more to gain by elevating positive customers than by eliminating negative ones.

To create fans, you need the remarkable, and that requires peaks. Peaks don’t emerge naturally. They must be built.

Breaking the Script: Defying people’s expectations of how an experience will unfold. Breaking the script isn’t just surprise, it’s strategic surprise.

In the service business, a good surprise is one that delights employees as well as customers.

We feel most comfortable when things are certain, but we feel most alive when they’re not.

Dramatize the problems. Once the problems become vivid in the minds of the audience members, their thoughts will immediately turn to … solutions.

Stretch for Insight: Place ourselves in situations that expose us to the risk of failure.

Reflecting or ruminating on our thoughts and feelings is an ineffective way to achieve true understanding. Studying our own behavior is more fruitful. Action leads to insight more often than insight leads to action.

Most employee recognition should be personal, not programmatic. What’s important is authenticity. And frequency: closer to weekly than yearly. And of course what’s most important is the message: “I saw what you did and I appreciate it.”

Success comes from pushing to the finish line. Milestones compel us to make that push, because [a] they’re within our grasp, and [b] we’ve chosen them precisely because they’re worth reaching for.

You can’t deliver a great customer experience without first delivering a great employee experience.

Remote contact is perfectly suitable for day-to-day communication and collaboration. But a big moment needs to be shared in person.

If you want to be part of a group that bonds like cement, take on a really demanding task that’s deeply meaningful.

When you understand the ultimate contribution you’re making, it allows you to transcend the task list. Who is the beneficiary of your work, and how are you contributing to them? Understanding the purpose of the work allows for innovation and improvisation.

Relationships don’t proceed in steady, predictable increments.

If we can create the right kind of moment, relationships can change in an instant.

Relationships don’t deepen naturally. In the absence of action, they will stall.

This is what we hope you take away from this book: Stay alert to the promise that moments hold.

The charge for all of us: To defy the forgettable flatness of everyday work and life by creating a few precious moments.

If you’d like to talk about how you can enhance your customer experience and your workplace culture, please reach out to me. My job as a Reseller & ISV Business Advisor for Vantiv’s PaymentsEdge Advisory Services is to work with Vantiv, now Worldpay partners to help them clarify their vision, hire the best team, develop staff, establish best practice systems, improve customer service, and more.

Jim Roddy is a Reseller & ISV Business Advisor for Vantiv’s PaymentsEdge Advisory Services. He has been active in the POS channel since 1998, including 11 years as the President of Business Solutions Magazine, six years as a Retail Solutions Providers Association (RSPA) board member, and one term as RSPA Chairman of the Board. Jim is regularly requested to speak at industry conferences and he is author of the book Hire Like You Just Beat Cancer.